Have you ever spent time looking for a parking spot at a shopping mall or grocery store, wishing you could just drop off at the entrance and park yourself, especially if it ’s raining or extremely hot ? How much time would you save if you didn’t have to look around for a parking spot? (Or how much would you save if you didn’t have to pay for valet parking ?). Self-parking will soon become a reality, and automakers are using millimeter wave (mmWave) radar sensors to make it happen.
You might be wondering: do surround cameras and ultrasonic sensors already enable parking? Today’s sensors can provide parking assistance , which means the driver still has to make a judgement call based on the feedback from the sensors . So the car is still not fully autonomous.
Autonomous parking needs to first identify an empty parking space or "free space" at a distance of about 40 meters. This is its "search mode". Once an open space is identified, the car needs to maneuver into it and park, which is called "parking mode".
To enable automated parking, sensors should be able to detect objects ranging from 3 cm to over 40 m across a wide field of view, including other vehicles, curbs, and pedestrians, in all environmental conditions. mmWave sensors help achieve this by accurately detecting smaller objects at distances less than 25 cm , such as metal bars protruding from the ground , which may not be effectively sensed by other sensing modalities . mmWave sensors can also continue to operate in a variety of weather and lighting conditions.
Sensor Installation
Installing sensors in cars is a major challenge today. Since mmWave sensors can be easily installed behind the bumper, car owners do not need to drill holes in the body or chassis. The ability of mmWave to pass through solid materials such as plastics and bumpers without hindrance allows for standardized installation regardless of car manufacturer or car model . The number of sensors required to achieve 360-degree sensing capabilities around the car is also much smaller than other sensing modalities. Only eight sensors are required around the car to achieve 360-degree sensing, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: mmWave sensors can provide 360-degree sensing around the car to enable automated parking applications
Multi -mode sensor
Automatic parking is achieved by repurposing existing front and rear corner radars (multi-mode). When the car is in driving mode, these sensors can be used as blind spot detection sensors or lane change assist sensors, which can support detection of cars in other lanes within a distance of 80 meters . When the car is in search or parking mode, the configuration of the sensors changes dynamically to enable sensing of close objects, ranging from 40 meters to less than 10 cm to match the range of parking applications. Multi-mode obstacle detection sensors for the doors can also be used for parking applications. Based on these characteristics , mmWave sensors are becoming increasingly attractive to top automakers. Table 1 lists the advantages of using mmWave sensors for automatic parking applications.
characteristic | Advantage |
Long detection range | Senses pedestrians and other objects at a distance greater than 40 meters |
Wide field of view | Perceiving objects in the 3D space around the car |
Repurposing corner radar sensors | Reduce the number of sensors required at the system level |
Multi-mode capability | Dynamic sensing of objects at 40m or 5m |
Table 1: System-level benefits of using mmWave sensors for automated parking applications
The AW R1 843 from Texas Instruments (TI) is a 77 GHz single-chip mmWave sensor that integrates digital signal processing, memory, and a radar acceleration unit to enable automated parking applications, as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Components of the AWR1843 parking chip
Table 2 shows the application advantages of AWR1843 :
characteristic | Advantage |
Three transmitting antennas | Detecting objects in the azimuth and elevation planes |
DSP and on-chip memory | Efficiently process complex algorithms on-chip |
Radar Accelerator Unit | Perform Fast Fourier Transform operations in hardware to speed up the process |
5 degree phase rotator per transmit antenna | Perform beamforming to enhance object detection |
Table 2: AWR1843 device features and application advantages
Automakers and top OEMs are increasingly adopting mmWave sensors to provide various driver assistance and automatic parking features. This is mainly due to the features and advantages that mmWave offers - higher integration, (meaning smaller size) . It can help with autonomous driving.
Previous article:Hall sensor-based automotive gear shift lever solution
Next article:77Ghz single-chip millimeter wave sensor enables automatic parking
- Popular Resources
- Popular amplifiers
- A new chapter in Great Wall Motors R&D: solid-state battery technology leads the future
- Naxin Micro provides full-scenario GaN driver IC solutions
- Interpreting Huawei’s new solid-state battery patent, will it challenge CATL in 2030?
- Are pure electric/plug-in hybrid vehicles going crazy? A Chinese company has launched the world's first -40℃ dischargeable hybrid battery that is not afraid of cold
- How much do you know about intelligent driving domain control: low-end and mid-end models are accelerating their introduction, with integrated driving and parking solutions accounting for the majority
- Foresight Launches Six Advanced Stereo Sensor Suite to Revolutionize Industrial and Automotive 3D Perception
- OPTIMA launches new ORANGETOP QH6 lithium battery to adapt to extreme temperature conditions
- Allegro MicroSystems Introduces Advanced Magnetic and Inductive Position Sensing Solutions
- TDK launches second generation 6-axis IMU for automotive safety applications
- LED chemical incompatibility test to see which chemicals LEDs can be used with
- Application of ARM9 hardware coprocessor on WinCE embedded motherboard
- What are the key points for selecting rotor flowmeter?
- LM317 high power charger circuit
- A brief analysis of Embest's application and development of embedded medical devices
- Single-phase RC protection circuit
- stm32 PVD programmable voltage monitor
- Introduction and measurement of edge trigger and level trigger of 51 single chip microcomputer
- Improved design of Linux system software shell protection technology
- What to do if the ABB robot protection device stops
- CGD and Qorvo to jointly revolutionize motor control solutions
- CGD and Qorvo to jointly revolutionize motor control solutions
- Keysight Technologies FieldFox handheld analyzer with VDI spread spectrum module to achieve millimeter wave analysis function
- Infineon's PASCO2V15 XENSIV PAS CO2 5V Sensor Now Available at Mouser for Accurate CO2 Level Measurement
- Advanced gameplay, Harting takes your PCB board connection to a new level!
- Advanced gameplay, Harting takes your PCB board connection to a new level!
- A new chapter in Great Wall Motors R&D: solid-state battery technology leads the future
- Naxin Micro provides full-scenario GaN driver IC solutions
- Interpreting Huawei’s new solid-state battery patent, will it challenge CATL in 2030?
- Are pure electric/plug-in hybrid vehicles going crazy? A Chinese company has launched the world's first -40℃ dischargeable hybrid battery that is not afraid of cold
- [GD32L233C-START Review] 14. RT-Thread kernel and finsh ported to GD32L233
- Introduction to the classification and development history of carrier aggregation
- Share the written test questions for embedded software engineers
- csmc0.5um process library
- The internal structure of the MCU
- Questions about multi-channel schematic connection
- TMS320DM8127 Camera Starter Kit (CSK)
- The city was frozen...
- TMS320C66x Universal Parallel Port Software Reset
- Microcontrollers only have so many resources, why do so many people want to use RTOS?